Category: On The Trail

“When I look back, it was God’s perfect timing on every aspect of my life,” said Shelley Morgan, the 2022 AMERICAN champion barrel racer. Winning $100,000 in Arlington, Texas, on March 6, was the most money she has won at a single event. She plans to take the money and “tithe 10% to the church and put the rest in my fuel tank.” The 49-year-old from Canton, Texas, has never craved the spotlight, but the stage she was on in Arlington was “pretty cool.” Canton is located an hour southeast of Dallas with a population of 3,805. Shelley grew up there and that is where she and Rex raised their two sons. Before competing in barrel racing full-time she taught school and coached basketball for six years.

After winning the 2008 barrel racing title in the United Pro Rodeo Association, Shelley and Rex made the decision to buy her pro card. “I had a great horse, Short Go, and we thought we could have a run at the NFR.” Short Go and Shelley made that goal in 2009. “The first year was a huge learning curve,” she admits. “We were kind of dumb – we entered a lot, mapping out where we went according to the rodeos and their location. Short Go got off his feed and I learned about ulcers. We got all that fixed and then in 09 we were going for it all. The boys (Zach and Tanner) went everywhere with us.” Shelley describes the adventure as amazing. “To be able to do what you love and do and have your family there; what more could you ask for. I stole my husband from his job and we probably didn’t make any money, but it was great.” Rex had built his own company, Eagle Security, from the ground up and thanks to reliable help, he was able to go with Shelley and the boys.

Shelley was 14th coming into the NFR in 2009, and finished the year 10th with $103,960. She placed in four out of ten rounds. In February of 2010, her run for another spot at the NFR came to a screeching halt. “I was at San Angelo; Lisa Lockhart and I had traveled back there from Tucson,” she explained. They turned their horses out in paddocks next to the arena and went to grab some lunch. While they were gone, Short Go kicked through the wooden panels and brought them down on top of him, breaking his back legs in half. “We sat there with him until the vet got there and put him down. I called my mom and dad (Bobby and Barbara Bridwell) who live in Canton. He loaded up his stock trailer and drove six hours to get him.” Short Go is buried outside the family’s arena.

Without another horse, Shelley went home to start over again. “The boys had gotten to the age when they wanted to stay home and get involved in sports, so the timing was perfect,” she said. “I went to all their games and started looking for, buying, and training horses.” She competed locally and eventually found the next horse, Radar, to take down the road. “We don’t have the money to go buy big named horses,” she said. Shelley has ridden her whole life and started competing in high school, training all the horses she competed on. “We buy prospects and I train them.” The family has 220 acres including a 55-acre hay meadow. Together with her parents, they run 75 head of cattle, and Shelley has around 10 horses on the place.

Her dad, along with other people they know, help find horses for Shelley to work with. When she found Radar, she admits she didn’t like him much. “That horse took up barrels like you wouldn’t believe and ran fast as lightning.” Shelley missed the NFR the first year aboard Radar by less than $1,000 – his feet got sore, and the duo had a hard time finishing the year strong. After that, Radar developed some bad habits, and it was back to searching once again for the perfect horse.

Kiss is the mount that took Shelley to the pay window at The AMERICAN, ponied into the arena by her former mount, Radar, who has turned into a rock-solid pony horse. “You can drop his reins and do something with Kiss – he doesn’t mind her wallering all over him. Kiss likes him – and that’s important – Kiss doesn’t like just everybody.” Kiss came to the Morgan’s via a connection from her brother-in-law. “He contacted me to train two three-year-old’s; both by the same sire, but different dams. When they led Kiss out of the barn and up the driveway, he said, ‘this is going to be the next world champion.’ She was this tall lanky filly with not a big hip at all. I would not have bought her – she was just sent home with me. I got on her and I thought she was going to dump me in the dirt. A Brazilian had started her, but she hadn’t been worked with in almost six months. If I had walked up to a barn, I would not have picked Kiss out.”

Within two weeks, Shelley changed her mind. “I knew she was the most like Short Go I’d ridden yet.” Their personalities were complete opposite, though. “Short Go was quiet and laid back; Kiss is high strung, moody, and doesn’t like crowds. I love her to death, but she is night and day different. They both trained themselves; natural from start to finish.”
The timing is perfect for Shelley and Rex to hit the road again. The boys are grown and pursuing their own lives. “Zach (25) is working with the family company – he’s amazing and allows Rex to be gone and stay gone. He’s building a house – God knew all along what needed to happen with Eagle Security,” said Shelley. Tanner (21) is working while pursuing an education in the IT field. They both help take care of the place while Shelley and Rex are on the road. Rex and Shelley are high school sweethearts, meeting when they were juniors in high school. “He was a city boy,” admits Shelley. “His family came to the country, bought a calf roping horse and a few cows and Rex tried calf roping and team roping. I was a cheer leader, and he was a football player.” They dated for four years and got married in 1992. Rex went to college but didn’t go to class.

“I had a job, but I didn’t like school,” he said. “I’m smart, but I didn’t try. I worked for an alarm company for 6 years and decided to open my own company. I took a pay cut for the first few years until I got it up and running.” Rex could have pursued team roping, but he devoted his time to Shelley, his family, and business. “My job on the road is to drive – I drive 99.9% of the time,” said Rex. “I do all her entering and help her on the road. I don’t do a whole lot at home with the horses, but I can fix a shoe and I can map out where we’re going. “When she wins, I win; when she loses, I keep my mouth shut.” Rex also helps keep Kiss calm when she’s being a dragon. “She likes me to rub her between the ears. Sometimes I’ll lead her away from Shelley when she gets too wound up – Kiss that is, not Shelley.”

The couple will celebrate 30 years of marriage and while on the road they spend 24/7 together. The secret to their long happy marriage is simple.
“She does what I tell her to do.”
“He knows I’m always right.”

Career Highlights
• 2021 – Entered the Wrangler NFR ranked third with $94,229 and finished the year ranked 4th with $202,202 after winning $107,973 at NFR. Finished seventh in the average in a total time of 147.19 and placed in five out of 10 rounds
• 2020 – Won $63,308 at the Wrangler NFR after placing in five rounds. Finished the year ranked 9th with $116,383.
• 2019 – Finished the year ranked 29th in the world with $50,283. Won California Salinas, Longview (TX) PRCA Rodeo, the Rose City Roundup (Tyler, TX), the Great Plains Stampede Rodeo (Altus, OK) and Apache (OK) Stampede. Finished second at Oakley City (UT) Independence Day Rodeo and at the Rodeo of the Ozarks (Springdale, AR)
• 2018 – Finished with $11,224
• 2017 – Finished with $1,438
• 2016 – Finished with $6,513
• 2015 – Finished with $29,106
• 2014 – Finished 17th in the world with $69,447
• 2013 – Finished the year ranked 95th with $10,269
• 2012 – Finished the year ranked 35th with $30,537
• 2011- Finished the year ranked 48th with $24,433
• 2010 – Finished the year ranked 34th in the world with $25,937
• 2008 – United Professional Rodeo Association Barrel Racing Champion; 2008 Cowboys Professional Rodeo Association Finals – average champion and year-end reserve champion.

Sponsors:
5-Star Equine Products – Best pads ever created, create great support for my horses under their saddles, they are never back sore from saddle pressure and pads’ effectiveness as well as appearance hold up like new after years of hard day to day use. So many options to choose from to fit everyone’s style and needs.
Eagle Security Systems – amazing clear cameras (even at night) on all my horses so I never miss a moment with my special equine partners as well as can keep an eye on the ones at home when I’m gone.
Rock & Roll Denim/Panhandle Western Wear – keep me looking sharp in and out of the arena. Most comfortable jeans I have to ride in.
Bluebonnet Feeds and Stride Animal Health – provides quality feed and supplements that I have been running Kiss on since the beginning of her career. Always one phone call away.
Shiloh Saddlery – the best saddle I have ever sat in since I have started riding. I didn’t know I was missing out so much until I got my Shiloh.
The Muffler and Hitch Shop in Canton – squeezes me in and helps me with all the accessories my truck needs to haul up and down the road, the gooseneck ball, bed liner, bumper replacement and best of all, big nice extra fuel tank….. troubleshoots any problems I have with my trailer .
Western Dove – amazing tack set, my mom always says Kiss looks like she is wearing a sparkly crown!
Resistol – giving us some of the most amazing hats at the NFR and American.
There are so many more others who have been so key in helping my team succeed down the road, thank each of you so much, I appreciate each and every single one of them.

Briar Teague, from Rattan, Okla., makes his living with a rope. He is headed back to the Lazy E to defend his 2021 Cinch Jr. Ironman Championship. The 20-year-old is approaching the upcoming event as he approaches any event. “I’ve always had a natural way of not getting nervous. I don’t know if it’s from roping my whole life, but I know with each run I’ve just got to catch them – I do what I can with what I draw.”

Briar has been on a horse since he was born. His dad, Philip, started roping when he was 27. His four sons, Briar, Clancy (18), Cutter (16), and Tryan (13), spent their childhood riding horses, roping, and raising cattle, including show cattle during their time in FFA. The family runs around 450 pairs on a few thousand acres outside of the small town of Ratton. There is one stoplight in the entire county. He graduated with a class of 20. Briar won his first buckle at the age of 3, winning the dummy roping at a USTRC roping his dad was competing at. He started competing in a youth rodeo, the OYRA, when he was 8 and a year later was competing at the USTRC ropings with his dad. He started with team roping (both ends) and breakaway roping, moving into calf roping, saddle bronc riding, and steer wrestling during his time with the Oklahoma Junior High and High School Rodeo Associations. He rode saddle broncs all four years of high school, making the National High School Finals (2017-2019) in that event as well as calf roping his senior year and team roping his sophomore, junior, and senior year. Riding saddle bronc riding started with encouragement from Wade Sundell, 8x WNFR qualifier in the saddle bronc riding. and a good friend. He didn’t pursue riding broncs after high school. “It helped me ride a bucking horse so that was good.”

He started bulldogging his junior year, competing his last year in high school. Briar went to Tyler Pearson’s school and had never jumped a steer before. They did all the dummy work, and that afternoon, they jumped two steers and he threw both clean. They had a two head jackpot that he won as well. At the beginning, Briar used one horse, his dad’s heel horse, Casino, for all events. That horse gave his all to all the boys. As Briar got older, the family was able to buy other horses and today there are 30 horses on the place with specific jobs in the arena. Hard work and dedication paid off for Briar. He won the All Around title for the Oklahoma High School Rodeo Association in 2019 and 2020. Along with rodeo, Briar found success in FFA, showing cattle and pigs. He earned the State Farmers degree while in FFA. He played baseball as well as basketball.

“We did this as a family,” said his mother, Misty. All six of them would into a living quarter trailer and spend weekends on the rodeo road. Having four boys kept Misty on her toes. “It’s probably better than raising four girls,” laughed Misty, a physical therapist who went from fulltime to part time so she could take care of four boys. “They are energetic and full of life. It took all of us – it was fun times and lots of work but well worth it.”

“I’ve always tried to teach the boys that if you want something, you’ve got to work for it,” said Philip. “You can’t be afraid to reach your goals – you can’t sit back and play it safe all the time.” All four boys rope aggressively. “You don’t get anywhere running them three quarters of the way down the arena – that goes for roping as well as life – you’ve got to take your shots. I raised those boys to be confident – don’t let anyone tell you can’t do it and keep pushing forward.”

Briar is a freshman at Western Oklahoma State College in Altus, Okla. He competes in Central Plains region where he is sitting in the top five in all the events, with the goal to make it to the college finals. After college, he plans to rodeo for a while and then come home and work for his dad. Most of his classes are online, and he spends several months in Arizona in the winter, roping every day. “This is my main source of income right now,” said the #7+header an #8 heeler. “I trade a few horses now and then, but that’s it.” He works his classes into his ropings. “If I miss a roping for class, it’s not a big deal there’s another one the next day.” He will be in Oklahoma the middle of February for his first Spring college rodeo and begin getting ready for the Junior Ironman March 10-12 at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Okla.

Preparation takes on many facets including heading to Tyler Pearson’s (5x NFR qualifier, 2017 World Champion steer wrestler) to find a horse to take to the event, and practice. Horses for calf roping and team roping will come from Briar’s herd. “I train a few of the ones I own – and ride a few colts. We have 8-10 colts at the house. We’ve raised a few and bought a few from online sales,” he explains about his horsepower. “I look for what fits me – size – bigger, I want something I can do both ends on. I’m not real good at breaking them, so I want something I can rope on.”

“There’s a lot of God given talent but there’s a lot of hard work that goes into this,” admits Briar. “Plus the tremendous help I’ve gotten from so many different people. I hope my brothers will be able to look up to me and try to do the things I do just as good or even better than me.”

“I work harder than most people and I’ve had a very supportive family to give me the resources to do what I love. I do it every day – you’ve got to get good at it eventually or you’d give up.”

Six of the 15 steer wrestlers at the 2021 National Finals Rodeo have two things in common. They’re all chasing the gold buckle, and each of them will be using the skills they learned in Tom Carney’s Steer Wrestling 101 program to try to win the world. Combined, these six cowboys are bringing 27 collective qualifications to the NFR and three world titles.

“It’s huge, but I’d like to have more than half,” Tom said. “That’s a personal goal of mine. But, I’m just as happy to have a guy out there trying to get his first steer thrown down as I am about having six guys at the NFR. That’s where it all starts. I look at these guys and to see them get where they are is beautiful. I know where they came from and they were in my pen starting from scratch. How many am I training now that will be in that same position? I hope it’s all of them.”

Jacob Talley, 30, finished the regular season No. 1 in the PRCA World Standings. He will be joined by Dakota Eldridge, 30, who finished third followed by Tyler Pearson, 36, in fourth. Tyler Waguespack, 30, ranked sixth for the regular season and Rowdy Parrott, 27, was 12th, followed by Tristan Martin, 25, in 14th.

“Rowdy Parrott is the smallest guy at the NFR, but he’s one of the most powerful because his technique is so good,” Tom said. “On the other end of the spectrum, Jacob Talley is a workout guru and one of the most powerful guys out there, but we softened him up and don’t let him use his size. We made him smaller.”

Tom grew up around rodeo and had legends such as John W. Jones Sr. guiding him and influencing his style. Watching how other cowboys steer wrestled and cherry picking the parts he liked is how he developed his own style, but that wasn’t his only source of inspiration. Tom was 10 years old when his 20-year-old brother died in a car accident.

“He was my hero and so I said I’d be like him,” Tom said. “I wasn’t the athlete he was, but I stayed with it and gave it everything I had trying to be like him.” Tom enjoyed a bit of success as a steer wrestler, qualifying for the high school and college national finals rodeos.
“But on the pro level, my students are better trained and better athletes. All of them have their own individual talents and strengths, so we don’t try to cookie-cutter them. Their styles are all a bit different but if you look at their basics, they’re pretty similar.”

Now 65, Tom is a Gold Card member of the PRCA. Unlike other sports, rodeo didn’t have a standard training program when Tom started Steer Wrestling 101 about 40 years ago. In 1989, Joey Roberts became the first of Tom’s students to go to the NFR and the list of steer wrestlers who went on to achieve great things continued to grow.

“Last year we had nine state high school champions and that’s phenomenal,” Tom said. “Our style is advantageous to the smaller guys because we involve a lot of core strength. We have a lot of tools and it’s one the most efficient styles in steer wrestling.”
Tom’s schools are typically held twice a year, one in Utah around Easter and one in Louisiana near Thanksgiving with about 40 participants. “My roster fills up within 30 minutes of announcing it online.”

Tom also helps other schools around the country and pitches in with the college rodeo teams that ask for his guidance. When he’s not training steer wrestlers, Tom works for American National Insurance Company in Ruston, La.

Tom’s training is from the waist down instead of the waist up, so footwork is imperative.
“We’re one of the only schools to train from the waist down and that’s huge in our training,” Tom said, adding that he watches the footwork in boxing matches and the focus in the eyes of Olympic athletes. “Just watch the eyes of my guys. You won’t see any expression, that’s how Olympic athletes behave.”

Unlike coaches in other sports, Tom didn’t limit his instruction to just scheduled time in the arena. He and his recently-deceased wife Tanya, T-Dog, brought the steer wrestlers into their home for extended stays while they perfected their craft. “She was such a big part of this because she would mother them and make sure they were fed right,” Tom said. “We had guys live with us for months and years trying to hone their skills and we’d take them in. She was like a mother to them, so it’s been quite a change not having her here.”

Affectionately dubbed T-Dog, Tanya holds a special place in the hearts of each of the six steer wrestlers heading into the Finals as well as the rest of the cowboys she helped. “I’ll always remember the hospitality that he and T-Dog provided for me,” Dakota said.
Pearson’s first time training with Tom was during his freshman year of high school and he recalls the impact she had.

“He started us, but I think his wife had just as much to do with our success,” Pearson said. “Ms. Tanya was awesome and she’ll never be forgotten. She was the rock, the glue, that held everything together, that’s for sure. She was the reason I went back; she was a good-hearted woman.”

Tyler Pearson’s coming into his fifth NFR (2013, 2017-19 and 2021). He won the world in 2017.

“Pearson has great horses and is a great horseman — he’s just smart,” Tom said. “He bulldogs smart and has always been that way.”

Dakota had already competed at the NFR three or four times before he got a chance to work with Tom. This year marks Dakota’s eighth NFR (2013-17 and 2019-21).

“The first three years I made the Finals, it was off of having a great horse and athletic ability and the drive to win, and not so much technique,” Dakota said. “Before, I relied on my size and athletic ability but now I have just as good of a technique as anyone. Size and athletic ability are fine, but if you have all three it’s a great thing.”

Dakota came close to claiming a world title after winning the NFR average in 2015 and 2017.
“He breaks it down in a way that is very understandable and you can relay it to a lot of styles,” Dakota said, adding that he’s applied steer wrestling styles from a lot of people to his approach. “Tom was a huge part of bringing my steer wrestling to the next level of being consistent and knowing what I was doing in every run.

Tyler Waguespack is entering his seventh consecutive NFR (2015-21). Winning the NFR average in 2016 and 2018 helped him win the world title both years. His dad, Mike Waguespack, would work with Tom and that played a big role in the young cowboy’s development.

“Him and his wife, they’d go out of their way to help anyone at all; whether it was rodeo or not,” Tyler Waguespack said. “Tom was always willing to help and in a lot of sports there aren’t many people willing to go out of their way to help and he’s great at motivational talks. He’s a really good motivator. They’re two very special people to me.”

Jacob started training with Tom in 2010 and this year marks his fourth time at the NFR (2016, 2018, 2020-21).

“When I went there, I had no idea what to expect,” Jacob said. “I had ridden horses for fun, but nothing serious and not involved in rodeo. Tom’s program is so broken down into the baby steps where you can get all the little details figured out before you even jump your first one.”

Rowdy is returning to the NFR after last qualifying in 2017. Growing up near Tom’s place, Rowdy has worked with Tom countless times since his freshman year of high school.
“I definitely wouldn’t be where I am without his help,” Rowdy said. “I’m a smaller guy, 5-10 and 185 pounds, so I have to do it correctly and he teaches how to do it correctly.”
Tristan got his start in steer wrestling by working with Tom when he was about 10 years old. Now he is celebrating his first NFR qualification.

“Growing up, there was never a lot of steer wrestlers coming from the South, but now there’s more guys coming in from Louisiana and that’s a big statement in itself,” Tristan said.
There’s no secret to their success as the Steer Wrestling 101 YouTube channel has been active for several years with instructional videos that were shot by Rob Pierce and are free to the public. Some of his videos have been viewed as much as 80,0000 times. Whether it’s in person or online, Tom breaks down the run and slows it down so that every aspect is fine-tuned, and then it’s on to repetition and dummy work.

“You see if now with little guys sliding steers and making great runs,” Dakota said. “I don’t remember kids being able to technically bulldog like they do now at a young age. When I was in high school, it was grab them by the horns and wrestle them, but he has it down to a science and technique.”

The game has changed over the years. It’s no longer just cowboys learning to steer wrestle as athletes from all walks of life are getting in the saddle.

“They come from being football players and wrestlers, and it’s just amazing the level of talent we’re getting now,” Tom said. “We had to step our game up and take an Olympic approach where they train like those pros do.”

In addition to the basics, Tom works on the finer details that fans in the stands might not be able to see.

“Things like the eyes and facial expressions, things you don’t see in their runs but I do,” Tom said. “I teach them to breathe, just breathe. In weight lifting, the first thing they teach you to do is breathe but nobody was looking at that in our sport. We’re training athletes and not just cowboys.”

Tom also helps competitors rehab after an injury, such as when Jacob tore his pectoral muscle.

“I’m never satisfied with where we’re at, if we quit learning then I’m done,” Tom said. “I’m a sponge. I absorb it and try to implement it if it works; and we’re receptive to all kinds of styles. We never say a style is wrong. If you can take a style and win with it, then it’s all right. I teach my guys it’s not about trying to beat any steer wrestler, it’s about beating your steer.”

He also trains the parents and coaches on the importance of positive reinforcement since maintaining an upbeat attitude is imperative in rodeo.

The adrenaline rush draws them in, and the friendships are often why they stay since their competition is frequently hazing for them. No other rodeo event or sport does anything like this.

“Not only are they good guys, but they’re good people,” Tom said. “The spiritual side of it is huge.”
I love the steer wrestling mentality. They’re all pulling for each other and are such a big family. It has more camaraderie and there’s not a selfish aspect about it. I love that, and we demand it — helping each other, hazing, pushing steers and those things. That’s the biggest part of steer wrestling and that’s not how it is in the other events.”

The Hash family refers to themselves as weekend warriors on the rodeo trail. But Jim Boy, his wife Jessica, and their teenage sons Jaylyn and Jaytyn, are one of the driving forces behind the rodeo world in the Midwest. Through coaching, competing, training horses, raising goats and WNFR-bound broncs, and driving hundreds of miles a year, they give back to the sport that has given them a lifestyle they love.

Kendall, Kansas, is home base for the Hash family, but they are equally at home at NIRA, KPRA, and NLBRA rodeos. Jessica’s grandparents, Otis and Shirley Jennings, started J&J Rodeo Company in 1978, and Jessica and her three younger brothers grew up helping fill any need at the KPRA, Little Britches, high school, and ranch rodeos their family produced. “My mom was in charge of cooking the meals and taking care of the kiddos,” says Jessica. “My brothers and I did a lot of the preparing the cattle beforehand. When Granddad got a new set of cattle, we’d track them through and rope them.” Jessica competed in the NLBRA in all the girl’s events and though she jokes she was primarily added money for the other goat tyers, she excelled in trail course and breakaway roping on a horse her grandpa purchased as a bucking horse. She and Jim Boy met through Little Britches and saw more of each other at KPRA, amateur, and college rodeos, where they started dating. “I went to Colby for my first two years of college and then followed my boyfriend to Panhandle State. Our joke is that Jim Boy was from Texas, so I thought he had money.”

Jim Boy grew up in Canadian, Texas, and went to the Texas High School State Finals in steer wrestling and saddle bronc riding. He competed in the NHSFR in steer wrestling in 1990, and began his college rodeo career at Murray State College in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, that fall. Afterward, he transferred to Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell, where he won the steer wrestling in the Central Plains region in 1993 and 1994, and qualified for the CNFR from 1993—1995. His team finished second in the nation in 1993 and third in the nation in 1994. Jim Boy also competed on the PRCA Prairie Circuit, and he was asked by his rodeo coach at OPSU, Dr. R. Lynn “Doc” Gardner, to stay on as the assistant coach after Jim Boy graduated in 1995. When Doc passed away in 1996, Jim Boy took the assistant coach position at Cochise College in Douglas, Arizona, where the women’s team qualified for the CNFR in 1997.

Jim Boy packed his bags again, this time bound for Garden City Community College in Garden City, Kansas, in 1998. He started as the assistant coach and has remained there since, becoming the head coach in 2003. Covid shut down most of their season in 2020 and Jim Boy took the opportunity to spend more time with his family. There are 11 students on his team this season and he’s excited about some new changes at GCCC. “This will be huge for us—we are revamping our stalls and can accommodate more horses, and increasing our scholarship budget. We have a few more kids lined up for next year and that will be a huge bonus to us.”

“He cares a lot for the kids,” adds Brock Baker, the assistant rodeo coach at GCCC since 2008. “It’s important to Jim Boy to have good kids and for them to take care of business and get through school, and to leave a better person than they came. That’s something he’s always cared about is that they get a good start in life. Rodeo is important but life is more important.” Several GCCC alumni that Jim Boy coached have gone on to the WNFR, including Emily Miller, Cort Scheer, and Casey Colletti. “From Garden City, those kids have gone on to every major university,” says Bronc Rumford, the head rodeo coach at Fort Hays State University. “Jim Boy’s touched a big part of the rodeo world during his career. He does the bucking horses as a hobby and he’s raised some NFR horses. He’s had his hand in all aspects of the rodeo world. Anybody knows that when you go to a rodeo that has his goats, there’s going to be an even pen.”

Jim Boy’s oldest son, Jaylyn (19), joined the Broncbuster nation at GCCC this rodeo season as a freshman, competing in steer wrestling, team roping, and tie-down roping. “I’m used to my dad being at practices because he was always at the house with us,” says Jaylyn. “He’s been pretty patient with me and wants me to live like a college student athlete on the rodeo team.” Jim Boy even invested in some property near the college recently, which has several barns, stalls, and runs. Jaylyn is staying there with his horses, camping in his grandma’s trailer. Rodeoing and his recent trip to the 2021 Cinch Jr. Ironman keep him on the road most weekends, however.

It was Jaylyn’s first time to be invited to the Jr. Ironman, where he ultimately finished as the reserve champion by .8 seconds. He competed with nine other contestants in three rounds of steer wrestling, tie-down roping, heading, and heeling. Jaylyn felt his runs met with varying degrees of success—he tied for first place in the third round of tie-down roping with an 11.1 after switching horses—and went into the final day aiming for second place. “I was trying to do the math in my head and saw that Briar (Teague) was five seconds ahead. After the bulldogging I was too long, but I never would’ve known I’d come so close to winning by .8 seconds.” Jaylyn’s 22-year-old steer wrestling horse, Cooper, also won the Lone Star Ropes Top Horse Award during the event. “My girlfriend’s family came down, and I hung out with my team roping partner, Jordan Lovins. That was the first time we roped together, and he was great. My dad, brother, mom, and uncle Daylin came and watched, and my other family watched it on the Cowboy Channel.”

Jaylyn went to his second college rodeo in Fort Scott, Kansas, immediately following the Jr. Ironman, and by his third rodeo in Durant, Oklahoma, accomplished one of his goals by making the short round in steer wrestling. “The very first goal I set was to at least make one short round my freshman year. Another goal was to beat my dad, who made it to his first short round in his fourth college rodeo. I made it to my first short round at my third rodeo.”
Along with college rodeo, Jaylyn is competing in his last year of Little Britches and plans to enter KPRA rodeos. He’s also pursuing a career of more guaranteed money in bullfighting, which he started working as a freshman in high school, taking after several of his uncles. Jaylyn works for his family’s J&J Rodeo Company and Medicine River Rodeo Company, working about 20 rodeos a summer. In 2020, he was awarded KPRA Bullfighter of the Year. “That’s where my heart is now. Ever since me and my brother were young, we’d go to Tractor Supply and buy bulls and horses and toy semitrucks, and we’d put marks on them and pretend we were stock contractors. We would like to do that someday; we’ll see what happens. I’m going to major in athletic training. Once I’m retired from bullfighting, if I want another job, I can go into the Justin Sports Medicine and stay around rodeo.”

“I’m very thankful my boys rodeo,” says Jessica. “I feel like kids learn so much responsibility and gain so many friendships. They learn to be patient and how to be a caregiver to their animals, or a teacher. When we first started this venture of children, Jaylyn did not want to ride horses or rodeo. We decided then as parents we need to support them in whatever they love to do. Jaytyn on the other hand had a rope in his car seat at all times—that was his binky. Rodeo was it from the beginning for him.”

Jaytyn (15) is a freshman, competing in KHSRA, Little Britches, and the Young Guns Timed Event series. He does tie-down roping and ribbon roping, while team roping is his favorite. “My brother is really pushing for me to steer wrestle,” Jaytyn adds. Like his older brother, he plays basketball, football, and baseball in high school. He took a break from basketball this year and enjoyed roping at the college with his dad’s team and helping pick up broncs. Jaytyn likes to train horses, and says he noticed horse prices were on the rise and decided to start training horses, selling them to make money for college and the jackpots he wants to enter. One of his current project horses is part Arabian. “Somebody just dropped him